DUMFRIES, Va. — For a town with roughly 6,000 residents, officials in Dumfries are taking a big approach to bring more businesses and expand the economic footprint.
Town leaders began to discuss a comprehensive plan with a four-phased project approach to help transform Dumfries into a destination.
“Out residents are looking for a place to call their own, a place where do they do not have to leave the town of Dumfries to enjoy some of the activities that they would like,” Dumfries Vice Mayor Monae Nickerson said.
The comprehensive plan would create a roadmap in achieving the mission, which will require focus group sessions and public meetings starting in January and February.
Nickerson said the council already rezoned an area to mixed use to help bring more opportunities. Route 1 is currently being widened, which hopes to help elevate the push to bring in more commercial businesses and develop a main street.
The town is working to build a recreation center, start a recreation department, and focus on having activities for children and adults who have special and different needs.
Nickerson just helped launch the Dumfries Citizens Connect app to help with communication to residents and receive feedback.
“I would love more engagement from the residents,” Nickerson added. “It’s not enough to complain about what you don’t like but contribute to the solution.”
Mayor Derrick Wood said as the only all-Black council in the commonwealth, they’re uniquely positioned to serve constituents in an inclusive way. He agreed that more engagement is necessary to help grow as a town.
“Dumfries had been economically depressed for so many years,” Wood told WUSA9. “One of the things Council was able to get close to a billion dollars’ worth of investment in a 1.5-mile radius.”
Wood is spending the week at the United States Conference of Mayors in D.C. where he gets to learn from mayors from small and big cities across the country.
“I'm looking to connect with agencies who I normally don't get to connect with and so I could take resources back,” he said. “It's a peer group of mayors who have solutions to problems I have that I get to have conversations with and discuss.”
Part of the long-term plan is to address traffic congestion, affordability, walkability, and the environment.
Dumfries is celebrating its 275th anniversary since it was first chartered as a town in Virginia.